Wordless Wednesday

Anniversary Honors

I've been married to this for 8 glorious years!

Book 'Whisper'

I've been on this reading binge lately.

I recently finished Whisper by Bill Hybels.

He spoke at lifechurch.tv what seems like yesterday, but upon further digging, I think it was in 2008! That seems like an eternity ago!

When he spoke, his message (I hyperlinked Bill's message, go watch it.) was on the topic of hearing whispers from God. I can remember hearing that message & being completely drawn in to what he was saying. I walked away that day totally blown away by what he had to say.

Jump ahead to September 2010. I was needing a book to read. I was going crazy with not having something while the kids napped. My pastor, Craig Groeschel, wrote some reviews on books he had recently read. One was title 'Sun Stand Still.'

The author, Steven Furtick, recently spoke at our church, Craig raved about the book, so I thought I'd buy it. Denied! It hadn't released yet. (It has released now, here.)

Side note: When you're on Amazon, they often recommend books you might like or books others that bought the same book as you also liked.

One of those recommended books was 'Whisper.'

Still not making the connection to the message I heard years prior, I bought the book.

The day it arrived I was so excited. I made some coffee, heated the corn bag, demanded the kids take a nap, and retired to the recliner for a few chapters.

The first couple of pages tell a story of Bill as a young boy and his teacher reads the story of Samuel thinking he hears Eli calling for him. Read Samuel 3

It wasn't Eli, it was the Lord.

As soon as I hit the page where his teacher is reading the story, it hit me.

I remembered the message! I was so excited! This book is that message, but more in depth. I love this book.

"When have you heard a whisper from heaven and how did you respond?" He tossed that question out to his congregation, but it hit me square between the eyes.

I guess the one whisper that pops into my head instantly was getting our Compassion Child. I can remember that voice in my head, telling me what I should do. I can remember. I'll never forget it. It was like my legs became concrete pillars, I knew if I left the church that day I would regret it.

I knew if I got a child I would be listening to God. Now I see it was a whisper, although that day, I think it was more of a loud whisper. haha

Without sharing Bill's story, he does share a poem he received and I want to share it also. It has changed me as a mom, a wife and a Christ follower.

Oh! give me Samuel's ear,

An open ear, O Lord,

Alive and quick to hear

Each whisper of Thy Word;

Like him to answer to Thy call

And to obey Thee first of all.

-James Drummond Burns "Hushed Was the Evening Hymn"

Baby Sister

I thought I'd just update anyone that reads this on baby number 3. Or Baby Sister, as she's known to Chloe. Or Nameless Baby In My Belly, as she's known on Twitter. Or Baby#3.

Baby #3 is doing great! She is a very busy individual. I honestly do not know when she sleeps. I wake up in the night to use the bathroom and she makes sure to give me a good heave ho right into my ribs or bladder.

Names. We have been trying and trying to come up with a name. I think we have it, but I'm not 100% sure. Even when I am sure, I haven't decided if I am going to share or not.

I know I have made and do make fun of people who decide not to share the name, but it's been kind of cool not knowing who she is yet. By that I mean, we don't even know who she is, but God does and I find that very neat.

We don't have a bed/crib or a bassinet, which is fine. Not worried about it. She has a car seat, so that's most important really. At least we can bring her home! haha

But her name, shall remain a mystery, even to us. I can say it will most likely start with C.

My Storehouse Is Full

Went to the grocery store today. I got a lot of food. My cupboards were full, fridge was stocked and I even bought some tasty sweets for me during the kid's naptime.

While unloading the groceries, I thought about all the children in Pakistan that are literally starving.

(This is gonna get real. Matt doesn't like to talk about this stuff because it hurts his heart. It hurts mine to, so much I cry, BUT not talking about it doesn't fix OR help. We can not stick our heads in the sand, avoid the news and say, "Oh really? Didn't know." We are obligated to help.)

I read a story, here is a blip,

Suhani Bunglani fans flies away from her two baby girls as one sleeps motionless while the other stares without blinking at the roof of their tent, her empty belly bulging beneath a green flowered shirt. Their newborn sister already died on the ground inside this steamy shelter at just 4 days old, after the family's escape from violent floods that drowned a huge swath of Pakistan. Now the girls, ages 1 and 2, are slowly starving, with shriveled arms and legs as fragile as twigs.

Make you sick to your full stomach? Yep, it had the same effect on me.

The debate I'm having as I write this is, "Do I post a picture of one of these kids or spare you the pain it will cause your heart?" I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure you'll get it otherwise. But we'll see.

A woman loses her newborn because she has no food to nourish herself so she can nurse! We live in a world where I complain about no pumpkin puree at the store, when thousands of miles away a woman is covering her child because it died from starvation!

I'm not trying to make anyone feel guilty. I'm not. That is not my intentions. My intentions are to bring this to light. To shine a spotlight on it. I was unaware the flooding in Pakistan was so severe. Why was I unaware? Because I refused to read, I didn't want to be sad.

Well, sad sad things happen. Some things we can't change and some things we can try to change.

This is becoming lengthy and for that I'm only barely sorry.

I went to bed last night asking myself how can I help? Well, I found it this morning. It dropped right into my lap, so I knew I had to help.

I'm dropping it right into your lap so you too can help.

I donated on the governments website.

I donated $5.00. $5.00!! You can also donate $10 or $40.

Here is the site. Once there if you scroll down it will tell you where your money will go.

Here is another site that lists all the organizations that are helping and how you can donate to them if you'd prefer.

All I ask is you donate.

Now go! (I went ahead and hyperlinked two organizations. If you click above where it says, "Here is another site." That has a bunch of org's with websites and phone numbers to donate.)

Red Cross

Save The Children

A Letter

Have you ever noticed how Paul greeted people in his letters, the sincerity, the passion? Notice how his love of Christ oozed from the words he wrote?

The way he wrote the salutation in his letters, "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Eph. 1:3

I got oozed on the other day.

I opened a letter from my Compassion child's pastor, Juan.

"Dear Friends,

I kindly greet you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May you succeed in your personal life and at home with your family!"

As I was reading Pastor Juan's words, I could feel the rawness of his love for Christ. I could feel his passion for his community, for the kids.

Then a few weeks later, our first letter from our child arrived! I was giddy with excitement.

Our child is three, so she obviously didn't pen the letter, but her father did.

When Matt read the letter, he looked at me and said, "Do you realize this letter came from the hands of our child's father?!"

Honestly, I didn't think that far. But he was right! He held that letter as he wrote in pencil the words he wanted to say to us. He shared his appreciation for us albeit all in Spanish, but someone translated for us below Santiago's words.

On the back someone drew a tree. I love this tree.

As hesitant as I was to get a Compassion Child, it's the best thing we've done in a long time.

I encourage you to go to their site and sponsor a child.

Don't have the money? Yeah, we didn't either. We eliminated the people that come and spray our lawn for weeds. How much was that? The exact amount we pay for our child!

Go check out their site.

www.compassion.com

Car Spotting

Chloe is very observant, as most kids are I guess. But it's the things she observes and remembers that is so amazing to me.

Chloe can recall things from when she was two. I find that fascinating. The littlest things, she remembers.

But it's the things she observes that got me thinking and paralleling. I like to parallel things into a good blog post.

Driving around town, Chloe always talks about how cute cars are. I notice a car's cuteness, like how stunning the Bumblebee Chevy Camaro is that resides in my town. Or the automatic door closing minivans I see in the school parking lot.

Chloe notices cars to, but not like I do.

She notices cars sitting in lots waiting to be fixed. She notices the color of the car, not the fact that it is missing a bumper, mirrors and the whole left side is rusty. She notices cars that I find yucky. She sees them and as she says, "So cute, Mom."

I realized something during one of these car spotting moments.

Chloe notices the cars I never see. And I notice the cars she never sees.

How does that equate to my Christian walk?

Do I overlook the people that are missing a bumper. Do I overlook the people who are rusty. Do I overlook the people who have a few dents and scratches and dings. Do I overlook the people who have been driving down the road less traveled and have the scars to prove it?

Chloe doesn't overlook those cars.

Does she see the people I miss? Will she continue to see the 'cars' that no one else may take a second look at?

I have a lot to learn from this 4 year old.